


Fatal Attraction

by NnoitraSzayel



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 02:02:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2173866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NnoitraSzayel/pseuds/NnoitraSzayel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grimmjow and Ulquiorra knew each other in life, and it was all Grimmjow's fault that they died prematurely. Now they're Arrancar and Grimmjow doesn't remember Ulquiorra. What will Ulquiorra do all alone with his pain? AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Off the Side of a Cliff

**Author's Note:**

> this whole chapter is a flashback, so it's in italics for a reason. 
> 
> Paper Beta - WildeWolf221 thank you for putting up with all of my crap! XD
> 
> Official Song for this WHOLE fic - Meant to Live by Switchfoot
> 
> first published January 23, 2010

_"Ulquiorra!" said man looked up from the pavement, his eyes filled with concern were now hopeful but that spark of hope quickly disappeared as it was only Grimmjow's friend whose name he cared not remember as he wasn't seen often enough to be worth noting. He returned his attention back to the pavement and continued to wait for his boyfriend. Grimmjow was very late, which wasn't unlike him, but it was starting to get a little too late._

_"Hey Ulquiorra!" He looked back up to find the speaker in his face, smiling like the perverted idiot he was. "Wanna go get a drink?" he asked, leaning against the car, his sleek black hair falling past his shoulders._

_"No. I don't drink." He replied curtly, once again returning his gaze to the pavement._

_"Road hold some interest for you?" the taller man asked glancing down at the ground they were standing on._

_For that Ulquiorra had no answer, but he didn't have to because the girlish yell of "Nnoi! There you are! And with Ulqui-chan too!" pierced the night as friend and fellow classmate Nel skipped over to them. Ulquiorra's eye twitched at the use of the nickname. There was only one person who could get away with calling him that without getting the cold shoulder or a glare… and that was Grimmjow. Who wasn't here. Well, not yet anyway._

_"So whatcha doin' Ulqui-chan?" He looked up at her. A smile was upon her face, a symbol of the innocence she held._

_"Waiting for someone…" he said quietly._

_"Who?"_

_"Grimmjow."_

_"Ah…" she nodded knowingly. Ulquiorra looked past her at the approaching figure not far down the road. Nel cocked her head and turned around. "Grimmy-chan!" she exclaimed and took off towards him._

_Ulquiorra gave a small audible sigh of relief. When Nel reached Grimmjow and made an attempt to glomp him, they both fell to the ground with a small shriek followed by laughter on the attacker's part. And just like that, the look of concern was back on the pale young man's face. Grimmjow always managed to catch Nel and anyone else for that matter. So why did he fall down?_

_Nel continued to laugh as she pulled an unsteady Grimmjow to his feet. Ulquiorra bit the inside of his lower lip. The man next to him sighed. "I'll go rein her in… and then we'll go." For a fleeting moment Ulquiorra could've sworn he felt a hand on his shoulder and the words "be careful" spoken before he walked away to collect Nel. He and Grimmjow exchanged a few words before they both walked off._

_Grimmjow staggered over to Ulquiorra and leaned heavily on the car. "Hey Ulqui-chan." He slurred._

_Ulquiorra looked up at him, eyes wide with concern and raised a slightly shaking hand to Grimmjow's face. "You're late." He whispered quietly._

_"I'm sssorry…." And he truly did look sorry. Grimmjow snaked his around Ulquiorra's petite, slightly curved waist. A delicate blush painted his pale cheeks and small smile graced Grimmjow's lips, "you're… ssso… pretty… Ulqui-chan…" Ulquiorra rested his hands on his partner's chest, his gaze turning wanton. Grimmjow took the hint and leaned down to kiss him._

_Ulquiorra whimpered as the bitter aftertaste of what he didn't know to be alcohol hit his mouth, but even so he moved his hands up into Grimmjow's hair, pressing his body against the stronger, taller man._

_Ulquiorra wanted so much more, but Grimmjow wouldn't give it to him. All the things he'd do to try to get him in bed for something other than sleeping… but Grimmjow always said that it was something special and intimate, and he didn't want to take advantage of Ulquiorra. But any argument on his part was futile. It just didn't work._

_He was snapped out of his internal monologue when Grimmjow's tongue ran across his lower lip, silently asking Ulquiorra for entrance to his mouth. He parted his lips in compliance and moaned softly when his lover's tongue started exploring the depths of his mouth. The bitter taste was stronger now, but he was used to it and didn't mind as much._

_Neither of them wanted it to end, but oxygen was a necessity. They both pulled back trying to catch their breath. Ulquiorra placed is head against his boyfriend's chest, moving his arms down so that his hands rested on his upper back. "That… was nice…" He said, nuzzling his partner's chest._

_"Yesss…. It wasss…"_

_"Are you alright?" Concern laced his voice, Grimmjow had always used street language, but slurring his words? That was more like something their science teacher had done when he was and alcohol addict. But Grimmjow didn't drink either… they were only seventeen after all._

_"I'm fine… le'ssss go home…"_

_"If… if you're sure…" The prospect of home tempted and drew him in. Home meant sleep, and sleep meant bed with Grimmjow, so although he didn't want to let go, he knew it wouldn't be long before he was back in his lover's arms again. But he had this horrible unsettled feeling taking up residence in his stomach and couldn't bring himself to let go, despite what he had said, he tightened his grip on Grimmjow._

_"Love… you've gotta… let me go…" he said rather awkwardly, rubbing the smaller man's back soothingly._

_"Ngh…" was all Ulquiorra cared to respond with. "I don't want to…"_

_"We'll be home sssoon…" The pale man nodded into his chest and pulled away._

_"Do you have the keys?" He nodded, taking them out of his pocket and unlocking the doors. Ulquiorra smiled and walked to the other side of the car to climb in the passenger side._

_Once Ulquiorra's seat belt was fastened (Grimmjow never wore his), the keys found themselves in the ignition with the engine running while Ulquiorra found himself longing for contact and reached for Grimmjow's hand, which he got._

_The older man's thumb ran along the back of his hand. Unnoticed by the car's inhabitants, Grimmjow was having a hard time keeping the car in the right lane, even before he had taken one hand off the steering wheel._

_Ulquiorra was at peace with himself leaning back against the chair, eyes closed, hand-in-hand with Grimmjow._

_That was when it all went horribly wrong._

_Another car was coming down the road, unbeknownst to Ulquiorra, and just as it got close, their car drifted over into the oncoming lane. Grimmjow ripped his hand from Ulquiorra's grasp and swerved too sharply._

_The other car that had been coming in the other lane hit the back corner of their car, causing them to spin out. All Ulquiorra could do was watch in horror as the car hit the tree that blocked the guard rail before it all went black._

_Ulquiorra was slowly coming back to consciousness. His head was throbbing, his face stung, and he could feel each individual stream of blood flowing down his skin. He was sore all over and his legs felt rather numb. He could still move his hand, he found, as he flexed his fingers. He could smell blood and salt water mixed with gasoline, practically tasting the thickness of the air on his tongue with every breath he took. He could hear a loud creaking noise, which made him open his eyes to find that he couldn't see anything through the broken windshield but the treacherous water below._

_They were teetering on the edge of Life and Death personified by the edge of a cliff._

_He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. If he could get Grimmjow to wake up then maybe they could get out of this alive._

_He turned to look and see if his partner was conscious and found him in a worse state than he was. Grimmjow's side of the car had taken the worst of the impact. The whole front curve that held the windshield in place was contorted and dented in. The door was dented inwards and looked as if someone had bent it in half._

_Ulquiorra cleared his throat and reached over, wincing, to the driver. "Gr… Grimmjow?" he said tentatively. His form was limp and there was blood all over his face from a deep gash on his forehead, presumably from where his head had hit the steering wheel. It looked relatively dry, as if it had stopped bleeding._

_He was still slightly warm, as he'd always been, but there was something different about him… that was when Ulquiorra noticed he wasn't breathing and upon furthur inspection, he noticed that part of the guard rail had came through the car and was jutting out of his lover's stomach. The pale man felt his own breath hitch in his throat._ No. _His eyes started to water._ Not Grimmjow. _He searched frantically for a pulse, but it was no use, Grimmjow was dead and had been for a good ten minutes._

 _The car lurched forward, as if to remind the one remaining that he was going to die too. The tears began to fall down his face and into his lap._ I don't want to die. I don't want to die. Please, gods, don't let me die.

_He leaned forward to put his head in his hands, but this was all the encouragement the car needed._

_It tilted forward and fell off the cliff. Ulquiorra wanted to scream, but couldn't find the voice to, so he ended up biting his lower lip with such force that it started to bleed._

_It seemed to take an eternity for the car to finish falling, but it finally hit the salt water. Upon impact he had closed his eyes, and the water was suddenly all around him, dragging him down into its depths._

_Adrenaline kicked in then and he fumbled blindly for the seat belt that was keeping him in the car. His oxygen supply was depleting and his movements became slower. Every pore of his body was screaming out, telling him to breathe, but he knew he shouldn't._

_He went until he couldn't take it anymore. He opened his mouth and attempted to breathe, but all he got was salt water and he started cough violently, taking in more of the offensive liquid. His insides felt like they were on fire, all he wanted was for the pain to go away, for it all to end._

_His body felt numb and his thoughts became muddled. He was only half aware that he had stopped breathing. His vision began to spot and dull._

Why?

_His last thought and question had no answer, as it all faded to black and Death took Ulquiorra as his own._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so yes, in case you didn't catch that it was Nnoitra and Nel that were there in the beginning of this chapter. And they were going out, as a couple. This will only add more to the huge pile of dramatic irony I've got in store for this story! For those of you who were also wondering, Grimmjow was drunk. And driving. Never a good combination. 
> 
> Next chapter I think will constitute of Ulquiorra waking up as an Arrancar, with all of his memories. I don't really feel like spending gods know how many chapters describing how they become hollows. I may just put a brief explanation at the top of the next chapter. I honestly don't know, and vaguely know how (Grimmjow get eaten by another hollow and Ulquiorra's Soul Chain runs out).


	2. So Lonely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've basically skipped over how they became hollows, so here we go: Grimmjow was turned into a hollow first, and was eaten by another Hollow while lingering in the Human World; Ulquiorra became a hollow because his soul chain ran out before he could be konsoed. Likewise, Grimmjow became an Arrancar first, and this chapter picks up with Ulquiorra after Aizen made him an Arrancar…
> 
> Written to: Wait for You by Atreyu 
> 
> first published sometime in 2010 (read: too lazy to look it up)

Ulquiorra Cifer, the latest addition to the Arrancar army and the new Cuatro Espada. A man named Sōsuke Aizen had found him out in the blank, desolate lands of Hueco Mundo. He had been told that he was quite powerful and had been asked to join the elite group called the Espada, who were the top ten strongest Arrancar.

The pale Arrancar sighed as he looked in the mirror. He looked exactly the way he did when he was a human. There were only a few differences; like the teal tear tracks that ran down his face, the helmet on one half of his head, the fact that his lips were black and white, and the hole in the middle of his chest. He fingered it forlornly. His human life, and particularly his death, was always fresh in his mind.

He felt horrible. Here he was, living a second, possibly third, life and it was without Grimmjow. Ulquiorra zipped up his jacket all the way. Had it always been this cold? No, definitely not, it had been warm once. He let out a small sigh. Aizen-sama had requested that he come back to the meeting hall when he had gotten dressed, so waiting any longer would be displeasing his new master.

As he walked emotionlessly down the hallway, he found himself distracted by the prospect of what this was about. Presumably to meet the other Espada, but what would they be like? He hoped that they wouldn't remind him of the people he had known in his human life… that would be a little much for him. The Cuatro shoved his hands into his pockets. This was ludicrous! Why was he worrying about such trivial matters? Why did it matter if there was someone as perverted as Nnoitra? As kind and girly as Nel? Or someone who wanted to love him like-

"The fuck?" Watch where you're going would ya?" lost in his thoughts, Ulquiorra had walked right into another Arrancar.

This one was tall, probably about 6'2", with a muscular build. He wore his hakama fairly low on his waist and his shirt was more like a jacket, as it was worn open exposing his well toned chest and abs as well as the hollow hole that went clear through his stomach. The sleeves of his jacket ended just above the elbow and the hem of the jacket ended where his rib cage did. His eyes were as piercing blue, as was his hair. The remnant of his mask was a simple jawbone on the right side of his face. Ulquiorra's breath caught in his throat. This man looked exactly like…

"Ah, Grimmjow, I see you've met our new Cuatro Espada. Ulquiorra Cifer, this is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the Sexta Espada." Aizen said when he caught sight of the two of them standing in the hallway.

Ulquiorra was in inner turmoil, this man, no, this _Arrancar,_ this _Espada_ , looked _exactly_ like Grimmjow… had the same _name_ as Grimmjow… but this Grimmjow looked at him as though he were annoyed. It felt like he was drowning. Again.

Aizen smiled. "You wouldn't want to keep the other Espada waiting now, would you?"

The Sexta said nothing, so Ulquiorra decided to say a surprisingly steady "No Aizen-sama" before walking into the meeting room followed by the Arrancar named Grimmjow and led by Aizen.

There was a line of Arrancar along the wall, which the Sexta went to go join. Ulquiorra remained standing by Aizen, trying to remain emotionless, seeing Grimmjow again… it was a lot to take it… but it couldn't be _his_ Grimmjow, could it? Wouldn't his Grimmjow hold him, kiss him, and tell him he loved him? When they were humans and Ulquiorra would get distracted and walk into Grimmjow, he wasn't told to watch where he was going; he was held, asked if he was okay, and whether or not he'd share his thoughts with his partner.

It was all he wanted right now, to be held and told that everything was going to be okay.

"My beloved Espada, this is the new Cuatro Espada. Ulquiorra Cifer." Aizen started, addressing all of those assembled. "Ulquiorra, allow me to introduce you to the rest of the Espada." There was a silence as Aizen looked at him expectantly.

Ulquiorra realized that he was supposed to answer and said with some difficulty at keeping his voice a monotone, "Yes Aizen-sama."

The Shinigami nodded curtly. "We'll start with the Primera, Coyote Starrk." A man with dark brown hair at the left end of the line who was gazing rather lazily at the opposite wall sent a nod in their direction.

"The Segunda, Baraggon Luisenbarn," an old looking man with white hair and an air of regality about him did not bother to acknowledge their presence. "Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, the Tresima," that hit a nerve… the green haired Arrancar was smiling and she ran up and glomped him "Ulqui-chan!" she squealed pulling his face into her breasts, smothering him. A few people laughed. Gin came out of the shadows with his signature smile plastered on his face. "Nel-chan, please let go of Ulqui-chan. We wouldn't want our new Cuatro to die the way the last one did…" Nel pulled away muttering her apologizes and walked back to stand with the rest of the Espada in her designated place.

Aizen sighed, and Ulquiorra fixed his disheveled hair and worked on catching his breath. "The Quinta, Nnoitra Jiruga." Ulquiorra felt his blood run cold as the tall, thin black haired Arrancar looked him up and down and greeted him with a "hey sexy," which was followed by the exclamation of "Nnoi-kun!" from Nel.

Aizen closed his eyes for a brief moment before continuing, "and you've already met the Sexta, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," he said indicating the teal haired man leaning against the wall nest to Nnoitra. He muttered "don't walk into things, you may end up hurting yourself…" that one also struck a nerve, because while it wasn't nearly as loving or caring as it normally would've been said when they were humans, but it was said with good intentions, and that was almost enough for him to break into a thousand tiny pieces on the spot, but Aizen was already moving on…

"The Séptima, Zommari Leroux," with those words there was a small bow in their direction from a bald black Arrancar.

"The Octava, Szayel Aporro Granz," a kind, though a bit devious smile was directed in his general vicinity from a peculiar looking man with glasses and pink hair.

"The Novena, Aaroniero Arruruerie," his whole face was covered in a pillar-like mask and said "brains!" upon being addressed.

Aizen sighed, "And finally, the Décima, Yammy Riyalgo." The largest one there by far gazed at Ulquiorra with approval and admiration. ( **1** ) Clearly this was going to be a problem…

"Now that you've been acquainted with Ulquiorra, you're free to go I summon you here for a meeting." No one moved (except for Szayel who walked right out). Aizen sighed mentally this time, sometimes the strongest were also the stupidest, so it was necessary to state the obvious: "you may all leave. Now."

Evidently, that was all they needed to be told as they left in their normal groups, or alone, as Starrk, Aaroniero, Baraggon, and Zommari usually did. Nel, Nnoitra, and Grimmjow all left together, although the latter looked rather annoyed. Or maybe he was bored, Ulquiorra was sad to admit he couldn't tell what the blue haired man was feeling.

The large one, Yammy, had stuck around, apparently waiting for Ulquiorra. Aizen looked him dead in the eye and said, without raising his voice, "I told you to leave Yammy." The blundering idiot nodded dumbly and lumbered out of the room leaving the Cuatro with Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen.

Aizen turned to Ulquiorra. "I'll show you to your room now." The new Cuatro nodded numbly and followed the brown haired Shinigami down the hallway. He shoved his hands into his pockets. Everything was numb. Grimmjow didn't remember him. He was a nobody, just another face in the crowd. Someone who didn't matter. Someone who wasn't needed. A waste of space. Worthless trash. He didn't deserve this chance at new life.

Aizen cleared his throat and Ulquiorra looked up. "This is your room." He gestured towards a door with a gothic 4 painted on it, which matched his tattoo exactly. "You won't be needed again today, but Szayel will be by later to get some information for your medical record, or whatever it is he keeps." Ulquiorra nodded briefly and Aizen left him standing alone in the hallway.

He opened the door and walked in. The room was fairly spacious, with a small closet, full bathroom, and a fairly large bed. It was stark white, just like the rest of Las Noches.

Murciélago found its way to table and his shoes found themselves on the floor. Ulquiorra climbed into bed and just lay there. A few hours went by, unbeknownst to the pale Arrancar in the bed. He hadn't moved since he'd gotten back, his eyes never left the opposite wall, and despite being under a sheet and thick comforter, he was still very cold. And the world was oh so very dark. ( **2** )

The door to the lab was slammed shut. Szayel walked over to the office, past the ever annoying Lumina and Verona. He paused in the doorway and took a few steps back. His fracción were in a cage…? The Octava took a deep breath to calm himself down, trying to ignore the annoying balls of flesh bouncing up and down and yelling "Szayel Aporro-sama! Szayel Aporro-sama!"

 _"Shut up."_ He hissed, walking away and into the office. There were papers scattered everywhere. His only competent fracción was muttering obscenities under her breath while standing on a chair and trying to put files back on the book shelf.

"Tsukiko. What are you doing?" He was beyond pissed. Could she not hold the lab together for a half-an-hour?

She stepped off the chair. "How about you ask the idiots in the cage," she said sourly. " _They're_ the ones who were jumping around like fucking morons! I'm just trying to clean up their mess!" she looked close to tears and her lower lip was trembling.

"Hey," he said a bit softer. "We'll clean it up… and I'll deal with the fucking morons later okay?"

She nodded and Szayel came over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Lets get these papers back in their folders…"

Grimmjow shot back half a glass of Vodka. "So what the fuck is up with the new queer Cuatro?"

"Nice rhyme…" Nnoitra noted.

"Those words don't rhyme…" Nel said uncharacteristically quiet.

"So? They sounded cool when they were said together like that." Grimmjow put his head in his hands. Sometimes those two really got on his nerves.

Nel sighed and crossed her arms with a defiant _hmpf._

"Anyway, what d'ya ask?"

"He seems a bit… off… you know what I mean? Kinda… withdrawn…"

Nnoitra raised his eyebrow, "why do you care? He's just another Espada, and a fucking midget at that… were you actually looking at that freak? And I thought Ion… Aaron… -fuck it- _tank head_ was weird! Dammit Grimmjow, look at me when I'm talking to you!" He looked up, "Don't do anything funny. This is not the time to be stupid." Grimmjow went to interrupt him, but he continued on. "It's not a good idea."

The Sexta snorted, "because you're _so_ smart and full of good ideas, right?"

"Of course." The Quinta said matter of factly. "Come on, Nel, let's go." Nel smiled and followed the lanky Arrancar out of the room.

Grimmjow sighed. The new Cuatro, Ulquiorra was his name, he recalled, had seemed on edge, and pretty detached, maybe distressed even. He had also looked sad, possibly hurt. Grimmjow hadn't meant to yell, but the sensation of someone walking into him like that was a little too familiar. And he didn't quite know why….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 - NO! ACK! *vomits up blood* this was NOT the way you read it! It's because Yammy follows Ulquiorra around everywhere! My friends pointed this out to me, so sorry for the disturbing mental images… 
> 
> 2 - Ulquiorra is experiencing Motoric Immobility (which is a period when someone doesn't move). This is one of the Catatonic Features that someone with Depression can have. So… in case you didn't know, I'm giving him some mental disorders.


	3. The Questionnaire

There was an obnoxious rapping at the door. Ulquiorra didn’t want to get up, he didn’t want to move. He barely had to will to say enter, but he managed to find his voice and a petite young Arrancar entered the room with a clipboard and a folder.

“Cifer-sama… I have been sent to collect information for the records… is now a bad time…?”

Ulquiorra sighed mentally. It would have to get done sooner or later… “No, now is fine.”

She studied him for a minute before asking, “Are you alright? You look… ill…”

“I do not believe I am ill… however, you appear to be more qualified in this area than I am.”

The girl gave Ulquiorra a small smile, “Well, while I suppose that is true, Szayel is even more qualified than I am as he is not only the head of research and development, but also one of the only two doctors. Oh! I almost forgot, I’m Tsukiko, by the way.”

Szayel… it sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it… “Well then, Tsukiko-san, if you deem it necessary then I shall accompany you to him.” Did that dead sounding voice really belong to him?

She seemed a bit flustered at his compliance. “Yes, well… I wasn’t trying to imply that you were completely incompetent in the area of your own health… Cifer-sama…” the name she added seemingly out of no where, possibly thinking that being polite could make up for her mistake. Honestly, Ulquiorra hadn’t really cared about anything being implied about his intelligence level.

“That is… quite alright.”

“Thank you Cifer-sama, for forgiving my inexcusable mistake… did you want to answer the questions now, of see Szayel first?”

“The questions first would be fine.”

“Alright.” Tsukiko took out a sheet of paper from the folder and pulled a stool out from under the night stand. “Question numero uno… how many Hollows do you usually eat in a day?”

Ulquiorra blinked slowly. “As few as possible. Possibly one or two a day, before Aizen-sama found me.”

The soft scratching of the pen on paper filled the Cuatro’s ears, and he felt relaxed somehow. “Dos… You were a Vasto Lorde, correct?”

“That is correct… but don’t you already know that?”

The girl looked up from her paper. “Well, yes, but its always good to cross reference… tres… will any of the other Espada pose any problems for you? It is my understanding that you have only met each of them once, but it doesn’t hurt to ask…”

Ulquiorra thought for a moment. He didn’t dare say _his_ name. After a moment of silence, he decided on: “The Décima… Yammy…”

Tsukiko made a noise similar to gagging. “I absolutely detest that animal.” It sounded like she was underlining the name many times. “What about Nnoitra? I mean… my brother usual-”

“I didn’t know he had a sister.” Ulquiorra said, finding the will to sit up and look at her full in the face for once.

She looked a bit startled, “Well, yes, but… Cifer-sama, you speak as if you know him…”

Ulquiorra felt like he’d been stabbed through the chest. Why had he even chosen to go down this road? Why had he even attempted to talk about his past life? “I… I knew him…”

“Cifer-sama…”

“Yes Tsukiko-san?”

“Do you…. Do you remember your human life?” she asked softly, noticing the hurt in his eyes.

“Yes…” it sounded like a whisper.

“I understand how that can hurt, but I’m sure that-”

“Do you know that piece of trash Jaegerjaquez?”

“Do I know- why of course I know Grimmjow! Who couldn’t know him? Say, did you just call him trash?”

Ulquiorra’s face took on an uncharacteristic shadow. “Yes. That _piece of trash_ is the reason I’m dead.” Yes. Being angry covered up the pain.

“O-oh… I… I didn’t realize… if you’d like I could-”

“No. This is my problem. I’ll handle it on my own terms.”

She bowed. “Of course Cifer-sama. I’m finished with my… questions… now… I’ll just be going back to the lab now…” and she took off out of there like a bat out of hell.

Ulquiorra frowned ever-so-slightly. Had he scared the girl? Well, he supposed, it was quite possible, but the idea of scaring someone who he barely even knew like that… well, it was different to say the least. He was certainly used to people avoiding him because he was a freak… an “emo kid” as they used to call him… but him actually intimidating people? What was this new world he had stumbled into?

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsukiko managed to make it back to the lab without difficulty; no one was in the halls to stop her for idle chit-chat. Breathless and more than a little shaken, she entered and walked back to Szayel handing him the file. “Szayel… Cifer-sama… he remembers his human life… it would appear that he knew both my brother, Nnoitra, and Grimmjow… and he said… he said that Grimmjow was the reason that he died!”

The pink-haired scientist turned to face her. “Interesting… what kind of an emotion state was he in when you arrived?”

“W-well… he was pretty out of it… didn’t sit up until I said Nnoitra’s name actually. It appeared as if he had been that way for several hours.”

“Do you think he was aware of the time lapsing?”

“Probably not… I’m not so sure… he did look ill though…”

“Hm… did you say anything about coming down here?”

“Yes, and he seemed more than willing to comply, except he wanted me to get the information I had come down there to collect.”

“I see… very interesting indeed… I shall send a request to Aizen-sama to see if he could force him into coming down here.”

“But Szayel, if he was more than willing to comply, then why go to Aizen-sama? He’s in enough emotional torment as it is-“

“Because that way, we can get the others down here too.” Szayel was determined to get the information about Ulquiorra’s human life out of him and then get Jiruga and Jaegerjaquez down there to see what they remembered. Arrogant bastards that they were… might actually prove to be useful for once…. Oh yes. This was going to be fun…


	4. Fun with Szayel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first published August 21, 2010

Nnoitra groaned. “Grimmjow, I’m telling you that this is crazy and utterly insane! You can’t just-”

“Grimmjow…. Nnoitra… Szayel wants to see you and before you both tell me to go fuck off, he talked to Aizen-sama, which makes this an _order._ ”

The Quinta rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, Tsukiko, we’ll be there soon. I’m giving Grimmjow here a life lesson…”

She snorted. “Sure… because you’re _so_ good at giving those…”

Grimmjow proceeded to flip Nnoitra off and follow the young Arrancar down to the lab. Now there was a place that was _fucking creepy._ He hated going down there, but he supposed it was better than facing Aizen’s wrath…

“Good… you two came…”

“Szayel… what the fuck is this about?” Nnoitra asked, irritated that such a freak would have the nerve to call them down here.

“This is about Ulquiorra Cifer… the new Cuatro… please, sit down…” he replied smoothly, gesturing to the seats in front of him.

“Does _everybody_ want to talk about that freak?!”

The Octava sighed. “If you’d sit down, I’d like to talk about what you may or may not remember about your past.”

“Tch. Why would you need to know about that?” Grimmjow asked, sitting in the chair with his arms crossed.

“Because it would appear that someone remembers the two of you.”

“Ha! Who could possibly remember us? Surely not that freak Wonderweiss!”

“No, I already told you who this is about, but I would like to know if you two remember anything-”

“Szayel, you already _know_ that we don’t! It would be in our files if we did!” the lanky Arrancar protested.

“It was merely a question, Quinta. I suggest you keep your temper in check, lest you find your girlfriend in a fatal situation.”

“You have the nerve to threaten _my_ girlfriend?! What _the fuck_ Szayel?! I can just as easily take your girlfriend away from you! I _never_ approved of my _sister_ dating the likes of you, and I still don’t! So, if you think I’m just going to sit back and watch while you threaten women…!”

The scientist laughed. “This from the most sexist Espada around. You really are something, Jiruga, you know that?”

“Fuck off, fruitcake.” The Quinta spat back, crossing his arms looking absolutely lethal.

Grimmjow sighed. “What could we have to do with Ulquiorra’s human life?” he asked. Nnoitra threw him a look that asked him where that came from and he just shrugged in reply. Paying attention seemed crucial these days…

“Finally someone who actually listens! Ulquiorra remembers the two of you, and apparently one of you- although I won’t say who- was responsible for his death.”

Grimmjow looked thoroughly confused. “How could one of us be responsible for his death?”

“I haven’t talked to him yet, Jaegerjaquez, so I haven’t a clue… however, have either one of you had flashbacks since meeting him? Or any unexplained familiarity of any kind?”

“No.” Nnoitra replied shortly, setting off another glaring contest before Tsukiko poked her head in to tell them (albeit rather timidly) that Nnoitra was wanted in the throne room with Aizen.

After the Quinta had left, Grimmjow felt free to speak. “Well, when he was walking down to the meeting room, y’know… to meet us all, he walked straight into me, and it freaked me out, so I yelled at him. I felt a bit like something that had happened before…”

“I see… and how did Ulquiorra appear to react to all of this?” Szayel asked, scribbling away on his clipboard.

“Uh… I guess he seemed a bit disturbed…”

“Mhmm… typical… I suspect seeing you unsettled him… possibly made him freak out as well…”

“What are you planning on doing about all of this?”

The pink haired Espada grinned. “This is an unprecedented case, and as such I fully intend to do all of the research I can on it.”

The Sexta frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you turning him into a test subject for one of your experiments, Szayel.”

The scientist laughed, “Protective now, are we? There’s really no need to be… I’m not going to do anything other than ask him a few questions…”

Somehow, Grimmjow sincerely doubted this. “If you do anything to him, I swear to you, not only will I rip you to shreds, but I’ll tell Nnoitra that you’ve been mistreating his sister, and then he’ll take your shreds and reduce you to nothing but a pile of ashes!”

Szayel smiled kindly. “I understand completely what you mean… rest assured that he with be well taken care of here. All I will be doing is sitting him down and asking him questions about his human life. No poisons or blades will be involved.”

Despite Szayel’s ‘reassurances’, Grimmjow still felt wary as he left the room…

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ulquiorra Cifer remained in bed still, as there were no specific duties assigned to him (not that he wanted to do anything anyway). He knew that it had to be about time to go see Szayel down at the lab… on some level he knew that he had no right whatsoever to be mad at Grimmjow. It was obvious that the man didn’t realize who he was. Another pang of sorrow mixed with anger coursed through him. The man that he had given his life to--the man who had gotten him killed!--didn’t even know who he was! It was ridiculous! They had loved each other! Didn’t that mean anything? Yes… he reasoned, it had… and it was important that he not lose sight of that. Despite that it seemed as if the teal haired man--no, Arrancar, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time--had just wiped Ulquiorra from his mind, the girl who had been in his room earlier had seemed genuinely surprised that he remembered his human life. He Ulquiorra was using his common sense, which either meant that this girl was quite stupid, or this really didn’t happen that often.

For now, the Cuatro decided it was the latter. One more moment spent in the deafening silence, and Ulquiorra decided that it was time to get up and go to his appointment with Szayel…


End file.
